True North Initiative News Scan 11 28 2017

TOP STORIES

ISIS brides returning home and raising the next generation of jihadist martyrs

She covered herself in black from head to toe to greet a recent visitor to the small Moroccan house where she stays, and removed her veil only when assured that her guest, also a woman, was alone. Over sips of mint tea, she spoke admiringly of her militant husband and the comrades she met in the Islamic State’s all-female brigade. Calling herself Zarah – she declined to give her family name because she had traveled to Syria in secret – she vowed that her children would someday reclaim the Islamist paradise she believes was stolen from her family. (National Post)

Trudeau says his father was an ‘academic’ when it came to apologies

On the eve of a formal apology to LGBTQ people for historic discrimination practiced by past federal governments, Justin Trudeau drew a sharp contrast between him and his less sensitive predecessor. Not the Conservative one — Stephen Harper. The former Liberal prime minister, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, his late father. On Monday, days after he apologized in Labrador to residential school survivors, Trudeau said: “My father might have a different perspective on it than I do.” (Toronto Star)

The RCMP announced Monday it will expunge any data on religious and cultural practices collected from Muslim refugee claimants who had crossed the U.S. border at a popular informal crossing in Quebec. The move follows a Star story last month that highlighted the federal police force’s line of questioning. The data had been obtained using an interview guide that included questions specifically targeting Muslims. The RCMP stopped using the questionnaire after the Star brought it to the attention of the force’s national headquarters. (Toronto Star)

Trudeau Minister Downplays Reintegration Efforts For ISIS Returnees

One of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s top cabinet ministers admitted Sunday that it’s unlikely the 60 ISIS fighters who have returned to Canada probably can be effectively reintegrated into Canada society. Ralph Goodale called the chances of rehabilitation “pretty remote” in an interview with CTV News. But he said it would be difficult to prosecute the individuals too. (Daily Caller)

Canadian government earmarks $100M to compensate 'gay purge' victims as Trudeau readies apology

The Trudeau government has earmarked more than $100 million to compensate members of the military and other federal agencies whose careers were sidelined or ended due to their sexual orientation, The Canadian Press has learned. The money will be paid out as part of a class-action lawsuit settlement to employees who were investigated, sanctioned and sometimes fired as part of the so-called “gay purge.” (National Post)

Finance Minister Bill Morneau is refusing to say whether he sold millions of dollars worth of company stock days before introducing tax changes that may have caused share prices to drop. Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre went after Morneau in question period on Monday, demanding to know whether the finance minister was behind the sale of $10.2-million worth of shares in Morneau Sheppell, the company he headed before he was elected a Toronto MP in 2015. (Toronto Star)

Canada grants refugee status in about 60% of migrant cases

Over half of the migrant asylum claims heard by Canadian refugee officials this year have been successful. New figures released by the federal Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) show that of 1,572 claims heard so far, 941 have been granted. The IRB has a backlog of 12,895 cases currently pending. (BBC)

OTHER STORIES (Domestic and International)

22-year-old Montreal woman escapes Daesh with infant daughters three years after travelling to Syria

A 22-year-old Canadian woman from Montreal is in the custody of Kurdish forces in Syria, along with her two-year-old daughter and newborn baby girl, after having fled a Daesh-controlled region of Syria. She is being held by members of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a predominantly Kurdish and Arab force allied with Western governments fighting Daesh in the areas the group once held as part of its self-declared Islamic State. (Toronto Star) (Spec)

Middle East men caught at border cleared of terrorism ties

The arrests of six Middle Eastern men caught entering the United States illegally from Mexico two years ago set off alarm in border states and in some right-wing blogs and other media outlets. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey called it a matter of national security and invoked the Islamic State group in a statement calling for stepped-up border security in response to the arrests. Conservative publications like the Washington Examiner reported on the men from "Middle East terror hotbeds," while Fox News questioned whether "Islamic State militants could be probing security." (Yahoo)

Ottawa urged to investigate P.E.I. business immigration program

P.E.I. opposition leaders are calling for Ottawa to investigate the operations of a provincial business immigration program that faces allegations of abuse and poor oversight. James Aylward, the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, says it's important to stop the province from becoming financially "addicted" to the deposits it receives from immigrants who don't stay on Prince Edward Island or open a business. (CBC)

Loonie down to 74 US cents if NAFTA ends — here’s what could happen to prices

The Canadian dollar could slump to 74 US cents, down from around 79 cents currently, if U.S. President Donald Trump were to dissolve NAFTA, according to a BMO report published Monday. That would compound the effect of higher trade tariffs to deliver a punch to Canadian wallets. “It is arguably the consumer that would be the biggest net loser from the termination of NAFTA,” the study warns. (Global)

Conservatives accused of free speech double standard after Catholic university blocks abortion film

Science Minister Kirsty Duncan demanded Monday that the Tories react to news that Saint Paul University last week cancelled a film festival event featuring a documentary about abortion. The Conservatives, who have publicly defended free speech in other cases, hadn’t immediately commented on the cancellation. But a spokesman said Monday the party believes in the free exchange of ideas in academic settings, including on issues such as abortion. (National Post)

Greek soccer fans attack Pakistani immigrants in Athens

Greek police have used stun grenades and tear gas to disperse a brief but violent altercation between supporters of a soccer club and members of Athens’ Pakistani community. Police say there have been no serious injuries and no arrests. Supporters of soccer club PAOK, based in the northern city of Thessaloniki, had gathered early Sunday afternoon in Omonia Square, in the Athens centre, before a league game against Panionios. (News 1130)

Pakistani police say they have arrested ten people for killing a newly-wed couple who entered into a free-will marriage in the southern port city of Karachi. Officer Qasim Hameed said Monday that Abdul Hadi, 24, and Hasina Bibi, 19, were killed by relatives last week for marrying without permission from their elders earlier this month. (Toronto Sun)

Western Authorities Anticipate Christmas Market Terror Attacks

Back in August after the terror attack in Barcelona that killed 15 people and injured 131 more in the La Rambla downtown tourist area, I noted here at PJ Media that Islamic vehicle-ramming terror attacks were literally remaking the face of Europe and America. (PJ Media)

Christmas Threat Against Times Square in New ISIS Santa Poster

An ISIS supporter released a poster of Santa Claus on the group's social media haunts. The poster shows Santa overlooking Times Square with a case of dynamite at his side. In the image, the New York streets are filled with pedestrians at nighttime and Santa carries a bulky red sack. "We meet at Christmas in New York... soon," reads the text on the image. (PJ Media)

Earlier today, the terror group released an image of Santa Claus standing next to a box of dynamite in a packed Times Square. Alongside an ominous looking father Christmas and a wooden crate marked 'high explosive dynamite', the caption reads: 'We meet at Christmas in New York... soon.' The propaganda poster, released across ISIS-linked social media channels today, comes shortly after the terror group named Christmas markets across Europe as potential targets over the winter holidays. (Sun.co.uk)

Melbourne man planned New Year's Eve terror attack, police say

Australian police have arrested a man they allege was planning to carry out a terror attack during New Year's Eve celebrations in Melbourne. The 20-year-old man will be charged with terrorism offences that carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, authorities said. Police allege the man had planned to shoot people with an automatic gun at Federation Square in the city's centre. (BBC)

Rohingya refugees forced into sex work

The BBC's Reeta Chakrabarti uncovers evidence of teenage Rohingya girls being forced into sex work in Bangladesh. (BBC)

EDITORIAL AND OPINION PIECES

Toronto Sun: Side with freedom-loving Laurier profs

The battle for liberty and academic freedom at Wilfrid Laurier University seemed to be going well. After grad student Lindsay Shepherd’s poor treatment at the hands of her superiors, a group of professors and students rallied to her defence. A number of professors banded together to form a petition asking the school to enshrine a free speech charter on campus. (Toronto Sun)

Anthony Furey: Trudeau quietly strikes the right notes on North Korea

It’s an odd notion: Canada works with Cuba to get them to work with North Korea to get them, in turn, to work with the United States on cooling their nuclear ambitions. But it’s a worthwhile approach and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appears to have quietly positioned Canada to a play role in this global fiasco proportionate to what we can reasonably hope to accomplish. (Toronto Sun)

John Ivison: Andrew Scheer should take a leap of faith on free trade with China

The difference this time around is that it is Andrew Scheer’s Conservative party that is set to oppose negotiating a deal with the world’s second-largest economy, while Justin Trudeau’s Liberals are pushing for an agreement — a role reversal from the situation nearly 30 years ago, when Brian Mulroney’s Tories advocated the FTA and John Turner’s Liberals promised to “tear it up.” (National Post)

Margaret Wente: The talk Canada needs: Are we importing inequality?

Earlier this month, the United Way of Toronto and York region issued a disturbing new report. The Greater Toronto area has become the inequality capital of Canada. Income inequality has leaped beyond the city to the surrounding regions. The problem is worst in Peel, a sprawling region northwest of the city. More than half of Peel residents are now considered low-income earners. Back in 1980, the number was just 2 per cent. "This kind of inequality blocks too many people from getting ahead – and threatens the values of fairness and opportunity that Canada is built on," the report warns. (Globe and Mail)

REPORTS, COMMITTEE HEARINGS, LEGISLATIVE UPDATES

- Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security meet today to study Indigenous People in the Correctional System

- Standing Committee on National Defence meet later today to discuss the Canada and the Ukraine Crisis